Happy New Year! I’m excited to start the new year with a fun project with many of you!The above picture is the pattern cover that you can download here. I included fabric requirements and cutting instructions along with the pattern. In the next week I plan to have a video tutorial to help with piecing the blocks for anyone that is new to paper piecing, for today I have my fabric selection process!
If you haven’t yet, join the quilt-along group on flickr, there will be lots of helpful discussion, and new friends to be made!
Also in the next week, I have sponsor and kit options that will become available, if you need to shop for a few pieces or the whole quilt, wait to check out the options soon!
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To select fabrics for a scrappy quilt like this, I tend to rummage through all my scraps and fabric stash. I pulled this huge pile of fabrics as options to include in my quilt, then let them set for a few hours so I could look at them together.
While I love all the fabrics, I did feel a little overwhelmed by the number of prints and the variety. To better look at the fabrics, I sorted them by color.
As I sorted, I pulled out a few fabrics. Looking at scale, smaller prints will work best, and color, I decided that these prints didn’t work within my plans.
Next, I needed to narrow my field of vision. Looking at the whole group it’s harder to make decisions, so I pulled back to look at a few colors at a time.
The small pile to the right are the few fabrics that I pulled out, they were to dark, gray, light, dark or large in scale from the rest. I realized that I wanted pure color, as I worked through the fabrics. I still love them, but not planning to use them in this quilt!
I did the same with orange and yellow fabrics.
And the red, pink, purple pile. I decided that I didn’t want too much pink, and wanted the bits that I did include to sparkle. After all that sorting and stacking, this is the final selection :
The fabrics are all of similar depth, and I’m excited to see how they sparkle with a gray background.
If you wanted to do a more specific color palette, you might consider adding a more colorful background.
Blue and green stars with a fuchsia background or…
orange and yellow stars with a aqua background.
Be sure to consider all the options, and see what will work best for you!
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**For the next two weeks, let’s pull fabrics, and shop for the basics that are needed. Be sure to download your pattern for the size options, and fabric requirements, and add the flickr group to your daily stop, for encouragement and inspiration!
I’m looking forward to quilting with all of you –
Amy
Feliz Ano Novo!Feliz Ano Todo!!!!
Whee! Thank you, I’ve been drooling to get the requirements! Time to get digging through those piles for pretty star fabrics!
Yeeaahh. this will be fun. thanks for posting and hosting.
HAPPY NEW YEAR Amy! I am going to try and stay with you this year with this quilt along. This looks like fun and it is definitely different! hugzzzzz
Happy New Year Amy!
So glad to have the fabric requirements so I can start choosing fabrics. Thanks so much, I’m really looking forward to working on this throughout the coming months.
I love the colours and fabrics you have chosen for your ‘mix’. I am wondering what size each piece of fabric is? Fat quarters?
Pulled some yesterday. Needed help, this is great! Thank you
Woot! Woot! Happy New Year and get pickin’ that fabric. (How conveinent – I just straightened and color sorted all my stash yesterday….)
This is fun…love the pattern, something different. I’m looking forward to use up my scraps!
Just downloaded the pattern. You did a wonderful job! Thanks so much for the time and effort in leading this quilt-a-long.
I am still musing over the background fabric, thanks for the insight on how you choose you fabrics!
Thank you so much for going over how you chose colors. Sometimes I just get so stuck with my choices and I wonder how others seem to get a “perfect” top. Obviously, choosing colors is something I need to take more time with.
Thanks Amy, I have listed to make this quilt, I love this design.
Thank you Amy for the beautiful idea of a group doing this quilt!
Oh wow!! This quilt is going to be beautiful!!! I think I may have to join in!
It was so interesting to follow how you sorted your fabrics. What a great lesson…thank you !
Hi Amy
I’ve got a question about the dancing stars –
background
33 strips 4” wide, then crosscut;
196 squares, 4” x 4”
196 rectangles, 2 1/2” x 4”
I understand where the rectangles go – top and bottom of the stars but I’m wondering about the 196 4″ squares ? I can’t seem to find where they will go ?
Oh my goodness I have learned so much from this blog!!I don’t know what else I can say except I was getting so tired of trying to figure out colours I was about to give up and go back to garment sewing….